Megliola: Hoops star Romeo Horsley finds home at Marian

By Lenny Megliola / Special to the News

Thursday

Jan 11, 2018 at 7:51 PMJan 11, 2018 at 8:14 PM

Romeo Horsley took the long and winding road to Marian High, the small Catholic school perched on the edge of downtown Framingham. But wherever the landing spot was — Dorchester, Walpole, Norwood, Wisconsin, Marlborough, now Framingham — there was a common denominator: Hoops.

Romeo Horsley took the long and winding road to Marian High, the small Catholic school perched on the edge of downtown Framingham.

But wherever the landing spot was — Dorchester, Walpole, Norwood, Wisconsin, Marlborough, now Framingham — there was a common denominator: Hoops.

Horsley is a 5-foot-11 sharpshooting junior for the Mustangs, scoring at 24 points per game.

“He finds a way to score,” said Marian coach Raul Matos. “When Matignon tried a box-and-one on Romeo, he still scored 25 points.”

Horsley’s mother, Lillie, who is divorced and has four children, kept moving the family to chase a better life.

“We lived in Dorchester,” said Lillie. “Somebody broke into our house. We moved to the suburbs. We moved a lot. I tried to move to better places.”

A stay in Marlborough was convenient because she had a brother living in Hudson.

Next stop: Framingham.

“I was pretty young, I didn’t mind all that moving,” said Romeo, who took up football and baseball before basketball became the passion. The AAU experience raised his interest in the game. “It was fast-paced. I like everything fast.”

At Framingham High, things didn’t work out. He got cut from the team.

“Framingham was too big,” he said. “I’m a social person but I liked a small school.”

Like Marian. “Everyone knows me here. It’s pretty cool.”

“It’s challenging trying to get players here,” said Matos. The Mustangs aren’t blessed with abundant talent or height, so Matos has moved Horsley around the floor as needed. “He’s not afraid to go inside against the big boys,” said Matos, in his third year as Mustangs’ head coach.

“I prefer to play the point, but I don’t mind,” said Horsley. “Whatever the coach needs.”

Horsley averaged almost 20 points coming off the bench as a sophomore, so perhaps you could foresee this light-it-up season for the kid.

“Romeo’s not flashy. He just goes about his business,” said Matos. “He looks for his teammates, and shoots when he’s open. He’s a very good 3-point shooter.”

The coach can count on big minutes from Horsley. “I don’t like coming out of the game at all,” he said. “I’m usually not in foul trouble. I might come out for a two-minute breather.”

His mother has been a tower of strength in her son’s life. She hated missing any of his games, and even changed her work schedule to accommodate the Mustangs’ games. “I was working as a hairdresser in Chestnut Hill,” Lillie said. “Twelve-hour shifts, 8 to 8. Now I’m doing eight to two.” In the undersized Marian gym, she hears the fans cheering her son on. “I love it!” said the proud mom who also has another son and two daughters. Romeo is her youngest.

Lillie recalled Romeo when he was a little kid in the streets trying to get a handle on a basketball.

“He loved basketball ever since I can remember,” said Lillie. Suddenly, Romeo shot up, and not just at the basket. “He had a major growth spurt one year. He went 5-1 to 5-6, said Lillie.”

Before that? “I was short and chubby,” he admitted.

Horsley enrolled at Marian in November of last year. “It was a week or two before [basketball] tryouts. There were struggles, but it worked out.” He wasn’t a starter but was still the Mustangs’ leading scorer. “Shooting came naturally,” he said. Like the night he racked up 33 points against St. Joseph’s.

Scoring has rarely been a problem for Horsley. “I mostly try to attack the basket, where I get most of my points. But I shoot from outside too, so it evens out. I shoot a lot of 3s.” Often fouled, he also piles up points from the free throw line.

Marian ultimately has become Horsley’s safe haven. When Framingham High didn’t pan out he didn’t let it get him down. “It was disappointing, I thought I’d be on the JVs or something, but I just continued to play. It didn’t set me back or anything.”

“He’s a very outgoing, friendly kid,” said Matos, “and very charming.”

Horsley has hoop dreams beyond high school. He’d like a crack at college ball, and even entertained the idea of playing overseas. In the here and now, after all the waystations of his young life, Romeo is in love … with his Mustang life.

Lenny Megliola can be reached at lennymegs41@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @lennymegs.